Caregivers such as physicians, nurses and other staff in a hospital ward, hospital wing, or other healthcare facility generally work under high pressure, high stress and long hours. These caregivers should be highly responsive to patient needs, in non-emergency as well as emergency situations. Due to ever-increasing costs of healthcare and other economic practicalities, efficient deployment of the caregivers in a healthcare facility is desired, particularly at night when the number of caregivers is typically maintained at a minimum. Nevertheless, optimizing efficiency is of secondary importance relative to the primary objective of providing a high level of healthcare. Accordingly, it is desirable to increase the efficiency of caregivers and improve the healthcare provided to patients.
The present invention provides a combined locating, tracking and communication system for a healthcare facility. The system permits wireless communication among personnel, automatically collects information relating to the location and movement of people, equipment and other items (hereinafter collectively referred to as “assets”), and provides continuously updated information describing the location and movement of such assets at varying levels of precision.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be evident from the following description of the drawings and exemplary embodiments.